#THE OUDH ESTATES ACT, 1869 
___________ 

##ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS 
___________ 

SECTIONS. 

###I.— Preliminary. 

1. Short title. 
Extent of Act. 

2. Interpretation – clause.

###II.— Rights and liabilities of Taluqdárs and Grantees. 

3. Taluqdárs to have heritable and transferable rights in their estates. 
Subject to certain conditions. 
4. Rights and liabilities of persons named in second schedule. 
5. Grantees’ rights and liabilities. 
6. Saving of certain redemption-suits. 
7. Heirlooms. 

###III.— Lists of Taluqdárs and Grantees. 

8. Preparation of lists of Taluqdárs and Grantees. 
9. Publication of lists. 
Supplementary list. 
10. None but persons named in lists to be deemed Taluqdárs or Grantees. 

###IV.— Powers of Taluqdárs and Grantees to transfer and bequeath. 

11. Taluqdárs and Grantees may transfer and bequeath. 
12. Rule against perpetuity. 
13. Restriction as to donees and legatees. 

###V.— Transfers and Bequests. 

14. Transfers and bequests to Taluqdárs or heirs. 
15. Transfers and bequests to persons out of line of seccession. 
16. Transfers to be in writing, signed and attested.  
17. Further requisites to validity of gifts inter vivos. 
18. Gifts to religious or charitable uses. 

###VI.— Testamentary Seccession. 

19.  Sections of Succession Act applied to wills of Taluqdárs. 
20.  Bequests to religious and charitable uses. 

###VII.— Intestate Seccession. 

21.  ‘Son,’ ‘descendants,’ ‘daughter,’ ‘brother,’ ‘widow,’ defined.  
22.  Special rules of succession to intestate Taluqdárs and Grantees.  
23.  General rule of succession to intestate Taluqdárs and Grantees.  

###VIII.— Maintenance. 

24. Maintenance of surviving relatives of Taluqdárs and Grantees.  
25. Grand-patents, parents, and senior widows. 
Junior widows. 
26.  Brothers and minor sons. 
Nephews. 
27.  Unmarried daughters, widows of sons and brothers and inferior widows. 
28.  Continuance of annuities. 

###IX.— Miscellaneous. 

29. Muhammadan Taluqdárs and Grantees empowered to adopt. 
30. Alteration of rules of intestate succession in cases of Taluqdárs and Grantees named in list 3 
or list 5.
31. Reverter to ordinary law of succession. 
32. Saving of rights of creditors.  
33. Awards as to compensation and maintenance. 

Schedules. 

First Schedule (Orders of the 10th and 19th October 1859).

Second Schedule (Names of persons referred to in section 4).
 
 
 
 
#THE OUDH ESTATES ACT, 1869 

##ACT NO. 1 OF 1869. 

PASSED BY THE GOVERNOR GENERAL OF INDIA IN COUNCIL. 

(*Received the assent of the Governor General on the* 12th January 1869). 

*An Act to define the rights of Taluqdárs and others in certain estates in Oudh, 
 and to regulate the succession thereto.*

Preamble.— WHEREAS, after the re-occupation of Oudh by the British Government in the year 1858, 
the  proprietary  right  in  divers  estates  in  that  province  was,  under  certain  conditions,  conferred  by  the 
British Government upon certain Taluqdárs and others ; and whereas doubts may arise as to the nature of 
the rights of the said Taluqdárs and others in such estates, and as to the course of succession thereto ; and 
whereas it is expedient to prevent such doubts, and to regulate such course, and to provide for such other 
matters connected therewith as are hereinafter mentioned ; It is hereby enacted as follows :— 

###I.— Preliminary. 

1. **Short title, Extent of Act.**— This Act may be cited as “The Oudh Estates’ Act, 1869,” and shall 
extent only to the estates hereinafter referred to. 

2. **Interpretation – clause.**— In this Act, unless there be something repugnant in the subject or 
context.— 

**“Transfer.”**— “Transfer” means an alienation inter vivos ; 

**“Will”.**—  “Will”  means  the  legal  declaration  of  the  intentions  of  the  testator  with  respect  to  his 
property affected by this Act, which he desires to be carried into effect after his death ;  

**“Codicil”.**—  “Codicil” means an instrument made in relation to a Will, and explaining, altering, or 
adding to its dispositions : It is considered as forming an additional part of the Will ; 

**“Signed.”**— “Signed ” applies to the affixing of a mark ; 

**“Registered”.**— “Registered” means registered according to the provisions of the rules relating to the 
registration of assurances for the time being in force in Oudh ;  

**“Minor”  “Minority”.**—  “Minor”  means  any  person  who  shall  not  have  completed  the  age  of 
eighteen years, and “minority” means the status of such person ;  

**“Taluqdár”.**— “Taluqdár” means any person whose name is entered in the first of the lists mentioned 
in section eight ;  

**“Grantee”.** —  “Grantee”  means  any  person  upon  whom  the  proprietary  right  in  an  estate  has  been 
conferred by a special grant of the British Government, and whose name is entered in the fifth or sixth of 
the lists mentioned in section eight;

**“Estate”.**—  “Estate”  means  the  taluqa  or  immoveable  property  acquired  or  held  by  a  Taluqdár  or 
Grantee  in  the  manner  mentioned  in  section  three,  section  four,  or  section  five,  or  the  immoveable 
property conferred by a special grant of the British Government upon a Grantee;
 
**“Heir” “Legatee”.**— “Heir” means a person who inherits property otherwise than as a widow, under 
the special provisions of this Act ; and “legatee” means a person to whom property is bequeathed under 
the same provisions ;  

**Words  expressing  relationship.**—  Words  expressing  relationship  denote  only  legitimate  relatives, 
but apply to children in the womb who are afterwards born alive.  

###II.— Rights and liabilities of Taluqdárs and Grantees. 

3. **Taluqdárs to have heritable and transferable rights in their estates.**—  Every  Taluqdár  with 
whom a summary settlement of the Government revenue was made between the first day of April 1858 
and the tenth day of October 1859, or to whom, before the passing of this Act and subsequently to the 
first day of April 1858, a Taluqdári sanad has been granted, 

 Shall be deemed to have thereby acquired a permanent, heritable and transferable right in the estate 
comprising the villages and lands named in the list attached to the agreement or kabuliyat executed by 
such Taluqdár when such settlement was made,  

or which may have been or may be decreed to him by the Court of an officer engaged in making the 
first regular settlement of the provinces of Oudh, such decree not having been appealed from within the 
time limited for appealing against it, or, if appealed from, having been affirmed,  

**Subject to certain conditions.** — Subject to all the conditions affecting the Taluqdár contained in the 
orders passed by the Governor General of India on the tenth and nineteenth days of October 1859 and re-
published  in  the  first  schedule  hereto  annexed,  and  subject  also  to  all  the  conditions  contained  in  the 
sanad under which the estate is held.  

4. **Rights and liabilities of persons named in second schedule.**—  Every  person  whose  lands  the 
proclamation  issued  in  Oudh  in  the  month  of  March  1858  by  order  of  the  Governor  General  of  India 
specially  exempted  from  confiscation,  and  whose  names  are  contained  in  the  second  schedule  hereto 
annexed, shall be deemed to possess in the lands for which such person executed a kabuliyat between the 
first  day  of  April  1858  and  the  first  day  of  April  1860  the  same  right  and  title  which  he  would  have 
possessed thereto if he had acquired the same in the manner mentioned in section three ; and he shall be 
deemed to hold the same subject to all the conditions affecting Taluqdárs which are referred to in the said 
section, and to be a Taluqdár for all the purposes of this Act. 

5. **Grantees’ rights and liabilities.**— Every Grantee shall possess the same rights and be subject to 
the same conditions in respect of the estate comprised in his grant as a Taluqdár possesses and is subject 
to, under section three, in respect of his estate. 

6. **Saving of certain redemption – suits.**—  Nothing  in  sections  three,  four and  five,  or  in  the  said 
orders, or in any sanad, shall be deemed to bar a suit for redemption,  

(a) where the instrument of mortgage was executed on or after the thirteenth day of February 1844 and 
fixed no term within which the property comprised therein might be redeemed, or  

(b) where the instrument of mortgage fixed a term within which the property comprised therein might 
be redeemed, and such term did not expire before the thirteenth day of February 1856. 

7. **Heirlooms.**— If a Taluqdár or Grantee, or any heir or legatee of a Taluqdár or Grantee, desire that 
any elephants, jewels, arms or other articles of moveable property belonging to him shall devolve song 
with  his  estate,  he  shall  take  an  inventory  of  such  articles.  Such  inventory  shall  be  signed  by  him  and 
deposited in the office of the Deputy Commissioner of the District wherein such estate or the greater part 
thereof is situate ; and thereupon such of the said articles as shall not have been transferred shall (so far as 
may be possible) be used and enjoyed by the person who, under or by virtue of this Act, is for the time 
being  in  actual  possession  or  in  receipt  of  the  rents  and  profits  of  the  said  estate  or  the  greater  part               
thereof, otherwise than as mortgagee or lessee.  

###III.—Lists of Taluqdárs and Grantees. 

8. **Preparation of lists of Taluqdárs and Grantees.**— Within six months after the passing of this Act, 
the  Chief  Commissioner  of  Oudh,  subject  to  such  instructions  as  he  may  receive  from  the  Governor 
General of India in Council, shall cause to be prepared six lists, namely :— 

*First.*— A list of all persons who are to be considered Taluqdárs within the meaning of this Act ;  

*Second.*— A list of the Taluqdárs whose estates, according to the custom of the family on and before 
the thirteenth day of February 1856, ordinarily devolved upon a single heir ; 

*Third.*— A list of the Taluqdárs, not included in the second of such lists, to whom sanads or grants 
have been or may be given or made by the British Government up to the date fixed for the closing of such 
lists,  declaring  that  the  succession  to  the  estates  comprised  in  such  sanads  or  grants  shall  thereafter  be 
regulated by the rule of primogeniture;  

*Fourth.*— A list of the Taluqdárs to whom the provisions of section twenty-three are applicable ;  

*Fifth.*— A list of the Grantees to whom sanads or grants have been or may be given or made by the 
British Government, up to the date for the closing of such list, declaring that the succession to the estates 
comprised in such sanads or grants shall thereafter be regulated by the rule of primogeniture ;  

*Sixth.*— A list of the Grantees to whom the provisions of section twenty-three are applicable. 

9. **Publication of lists.**— When the lists mentioned in section eight shall have been approved by the 
Chief Commissioner of Oudh, they shall be published in the *Gazette of India*. After such publication, the 
first and second of the said lists not, except in the manner provided by section thirty or section thirty-one, 
as the case may be, be liable to any alteration in respect of any names entered therein. 

**Supplementary list.**— If, at any time after the publication of the said lists, it appears to the Governor 
General  of  India  in  Council  that  the  name  of  any  person  has  been  wrongly  omitted  from  or  wrongly 
entered in any of the said lists, the said Governor General in Council may order the name to be inserted in 
the proper list, and such name shall be published in the *Gazette of India* in a supplementary list, and such 
person shall be treated in all respects as if his name had been from the first inserted in the proper list.  

10. **None but persons named in lists to be deemed Taluqdárs or Grantees.**— No persons shall be 
considered Taluqdárs  or  Grantees  within the  meaning  of  this  Act,  other  than  the  person  named  in  such 
original or supplementary lists as aforesaid. The Courts shall take judicial notice of the said lists and shall 
regard them as conclusive evidence that the persons named therein are such Taluqdárs or Grantees.  

###IV.— Powers of Taluqdárs and Grantees to transfer and bequeath. 

11. **Taluqdárs and Grantees may transfer and bequeath.**— Subject to the Provisions of this Act, 
and to all the conditions under which the estate was conferred by the British Government, every Taluqdár 
and Grantee, and every heir and legatee of a Taluqdár and Grantee, of sound mind and not a minor, shall 
be competent to transfer the whole or any portion of his estate, or of his right and interest therein, during 
his  life-time,  by  sale,  exchange,  mortgage,  lease  or  gift,  and  to  bequeath  by  his  will  to  any  person  the 
whole or any portion of such estate, right and interest.  

A married woman may make a bequest under this Act of any property which she could alienate by her 
own act during her life. 

Persons who are deaf or dumb or blind are not thereby incapacitated for making a transfer or bequest 
under this Act, if they are able to know what they do by it. 

One  who  is  ordinarily  insane  may  make  a  transfer  or  bequest  under  this  Act  during  an  interval  in 
which he is of sound mind. 

No person can make a transfer or bequest under this Act while he is in such a state of mind, whether 
from drunkenness, or from illness, or from any other cause, that he does not know what he is doing. 

A transfer and a will, or any part of a will, the making of which has been caused by fraud or coercion 
or by such importunity as takes away the free agency of the transferor or testator, is void. 

12. **Rule against perpetuity.**— No transfer or bequest under this Act shall be valid whereby 
the vesting of the thing transferred or bequeathed may be delayed beyond the life-time of one or 
more persons living at the decease of the transferee or testator and the minority of some person 
who shall be in existence at the expiration of that period, and to whom, if he attains full age, the 
thing transferred or bequeathed is to belong. 

13. **Restriction as to donees and legatees.**— No Taluqdár or Grantee, and no heir or legatee of a 
Taluqdár  or  Grantee,  shall  have  power  to  give  or  bequeath  his  estate,  or  any  portion  thereof,  or  any 
interest therein, to any person not being either- 

(1.) —a person who, under the provision of this Act, or under the ordinary law to which person of 
the  donor's  or  testator's  tribe  and  religion  are  subject,  would  have  succeeded  to  such  estate  or  to  a 
portion  thereof,  or  to  an  interest  therein,  if  such  Taluqdár  or  Grantee,  heir  or  legatee,  had  died 
intestate, or 

(2.) — a younger son of the Taluqdár or Grantee, heir or legatee, in case the name of such Taluqdár 
or  Grantee  appears  in  the  third  or  the  fifth  of  the  lists  mentioned  in  section  eight,  except  by  an 
instrument of gift or a will executed and attested, not less than three months before the death of the 
donor  or  testator,  in  manner  herein  provided  in  the  case  of  a  gift  or  will,  as  the  case  may  be,  and 
registered within one month from the date of its execution. 

###V. — Transfer's and Bequests. 

14. **Transfers and bequest to Taluqdárs or heirs.**—If any Taluqdár or Grantee shall theretofore 
have  transferred  or  bequeathed,  or  if  any  Taluqdár  or  Grantee,  or  his  heir  or  legatee,  shall 
hereafter  transfer  or  bequeath,  the  whole  or  any  portion  of  his  estate  to  another  Taluqdár  or 
Grantee, or to such younger son as is referred to in section thirteen, clause two, or to a person 
who would have succeeded according to the provisions of this Act to the estate or to a portion 
thereof if the transferor or testator had died without having made the transfer and intestate, the 
transferee or legatee and his heirs and legatees shall have the same rights and powers in regard to 
the property to which he or they may have become entitled under or by virtue of such t ransfer or 
bequest,  and  shall  hold  the  same  subject  to  the  same  conditions  and  to  the  same  rules  of 
succession as the transferor or testator. 

15. **Transfers and bequests to persons out of line of succession.**— If any Taluqdár or Grantee 
shall heretofore  have  transferred  or  bequeathed,  or  if  any  Taluqdár  or  Grantee  or  his  heir  or 
legatee  shall  hereafter  transfer  or  bequeath  to  any  person  not  being  a  Taluqdár  or  Grantee  the 
whole or any portion of  his estate, and such person would not have succeeded according to the 
provisions of this  Act to  the  estate or to a portion  thereof  if the transferor  or testator had died 
without having made the transfer and intestate, the transfer of and succession to the property so 
transferred or bequeathed shall be regulated by the rules which would have governed the transfer 
of and succession to such property if the transferee or legatee had bought the same from a person 
not being a Taluqdár or Grantee.
 
16. **Transfers to be in writing, signed and attested.**—  No  transfer  of  any  estate,  or  of  any 
portion  thereof,  or  of  any  interest  therein,  made  by  a  Taluqdár  or  Grantee  or  by  his  heir  or 
legatee under the provisions of this Act, shall be valid unless made by an instrument in writing 
signed by the transferor and attested by two or more witnesses. 

17. **Further requisites to validity of gifts inter vivos.**—  If any such transfer be made by gift, the 
gift shall not be valid unless, within six months after the execution of the instrument of gift, the gift 
be followed by delivery by the donor, or his representative in interest, of possession of the property 
comprised therein, nor unless the instrument shall have been registered within one month from the 
date of its execution.

18. **Gifts to religious or charitable uses.**—  No Taluqdár or Grantee, and no heir or legatee of a 
Taluqdár or Grantee, shall have power to give his estate, or any portion thereof or interest therein, to 
religious  or  charitable  uses,  except  by  an  instrument  of  gift  executed  not  less  than  three  months 
before his death, and subject to the provisions contained in section seventeen.

###VI. — Testamentary Succession. 

19. **Sections of Succession Act applied to wills of Taluqdárs.**— Sections 49, 50, 51, 54, 55, 
and 57 to 77 (both inclusive), and sections 82, 83, 85,  and 88  to 98 (both inclusive) of the Indian 
Succession  Act  (No.  X  of  1865),  shall  apply  to  all  wills  and  codicils  made  by  any  Taluqdár  or 
Grantee, or by his heir or legatee, under the provisions of this Act, for the purpose of bequeathing to 
any person his estate, or any portion thereof, or any interest therein: Provided that marriage shall not 
revoke any such will or codicil : Provided also that nothing herein contained shall affect wills made 
before the passing of this Act. 

In applying the said sections to wills and codicils made under this Act, all words hereinbefore 
defined, and occurring in such sections, shall (unless there be something repugnant in the subject or 
context) be deemed to have the same meaning as this Act has attached to such words respectively. 

20. **Bequests to religious and charitable uses.**—  No  Taluqdár  or  Grantee  and  no  heir  or 
legatee  of a Taluqdár or Grantee, having Child, parent, brother, unmarried sister, or  a nephew, being 
the naturally born son of a brother of such Taluqdár or Grantee, heir or legatee, shall have power to 
bequeath his estate or any part thereof or any interest therein exceeding in amount or value the sum 
of two thousand rupees to religious or charitable uses, except by a will executed not less than three 
months before his death, and registered within one month from the date of its execution.

###VII. — Intestate Succession. 

21. **'Son," descendants, ' daughter,' 'brother,' widow,' defined.**— In the next following section, 
unless  where  there  is  something  repugnant  in  the  context,  the  words  'son,'  'descendants,' 
‘daugher’and'  brother'  apply  only  to *najib-ul-tarfain*,  and  the  word  ‘widoew’  applies  only  to  a 
woman belonging to the *ahl-i-bradari* of her deceased husband. 

22. **Special rules of succession to intestate Taluqdárs and Grantees.**—  If  any  Taluqdár  or 
Grantee  whose  name  shall  be  inserted  in  the  second,  third,  or  fifth  of  the  lists  mentioned  in 
section eight, or his heir or legatee, shall die intestate as to his estate, such estate shall descend as 
follows: viz : — 

(l).—To  the  eldest  son  of  such  Taluqdár  or  Grantee,  heir  or  legatee,  and  his  male  lineal 
descendants, subject to the same conditions and in the same manner as the estate was held by 
the deceased; 

(2).—Or if such eldest son of such Taluqdár or Grantee, heir or legatee, shall have died in 
his life-time, leaving male lineal descendants, then to the eldest and every other son of such 
eldest  son  successively,  according  to  their  respective  seniorities,  and  their  respective  male 
lineal descendants, subject as aforesaid; 

(3).—or if such eldest son of such Taluqdár or Grantee, heir or legatee, shall have died in 
his life-time without leaving male lineal descendants, then to the second and every other on of 
the  aid  Taluqdár  or  Grantee,  heir  or  legatee,  successively,  according  to  their  respective 
seniorities, and their respective male lineal descendants, subject as aforesaid; 

(4).—or in default of such son or descendants, then to such son (if any) of a daughter of 
such Taluqdár or Grantee, heir or legatee, as has been treated by him in all respects as his own 
son, and to the male lineal descendants of such son, subject as aforesaid; 

(5).—or in default of such son or descendants, then to such person as the said Taluqdár or 
Grantee,  heir  or  legatee,  shall  have  adopted  by  a  writing  executed  and  attested  in  manner 
required in case of a will and registered, subject as aforesaid; 

(6).—or in default of such adopted son, then to the eldest and every other brother of such 
Taluqdár  or  Grantee,  heir  or  legatee,  successively,  according  to  their  respective  seniorities, 
and their respective male lineal descendants, subject as aforesaid; 

(7).—or  in  default  of  any  such  brother,  then  to  the  widow  of  the  deceased  Taluqdár  or 
Grantee, heir or legatee; or, if there be more widows than one, to t he widow first married to 
such Taluqdár or Grantee, heir or legatee, for her life-time only; 

(8).—And upon the death of such widow, then to such son as the said widow shall, with 
the  consent  in  writing  of  her  deceased  husband,  have  adopted  by  a  writing  executed  and 
attested in manner required in case of a will and registered, subject as aforesaid; 

(9).—or on the death of such first married widow and in default of a son adopted by her 
with such consent and in such manner as aforesaid, then to the other widow, if any, of such 
Taluqdár or Grantee, heir or legatee, next in order of marriage, for her life, and on the death of 
such other widow, to a son adopted by her with such consent and in such manner as aforesaid; 
or  in  default  of  such  adopted  son,  then  to  the  other  surviving  widows  according  to  their 
respective seniorities as widows, for their respective lives, and on their respective deaths, to 
the  sons  so  adopted  by  them  respectively,  and  to  the  male  lineal  descendants  of  such  sons 
respectively, subject as aforesaid; 

(10).—or in default of  any such widow or  of any  son so  adopted  by her; or  of any such 
descendant, then to the male lineal descendants, not being najib-ul-tarfain, of such Taluqdár or 
Grantee,  heir  or  legatee,  successively,  according  to  their  respective  seniorities  and  their                           
respective male lineal descendant, whether najib-ul-tarfain or not; 

(11).—Or in default of any such descendant, then to such persons as would have been entitled to 
succeed to the estate under the ordinary law to which per on of the religion and tribe of such Taluqdár 
or Grantee, heir or legatee, are subject.  

Nothing  contained  in  the  former  part  of  this  section  shall  be  construed  to  limit  the  power  of 
alienation conferred by section eleven. 

23. **General rule of succession to intestate Taluqdárs and Grantees.**—Except in the cases provided 
for  by  section twenty-two,  the success  General  rule of  succession  to  all  property  left  by  Taluqdárs  and 
Grantees,  and  cession  to  intestate  Ta-  their  heirs  and  legatee,  dying  intestate,  shall  be  regulated  by  the 
ordinary law to which members of the intestate's tribe and religion are subject. 

###VIII.— Maintenance.

24. **Maintenance of surviving relatives of Taluqdárs and Grantees.**—  When  any  Taluqdár  or 
Grantee, or his heir or legatee, dies leaving him surviving such relatives as are hereinafter mentioned, the 
person for the time being in the possession of his estate or the rents and profits thereof shall be liable to  
pay to each of such relatives during his or her life, or for such other period as is hereinafter mentioned, by 
twelve equal monthly payments, an annuity in accordance with the custom of the country not exceeding 
such amount as is hereinafter mentioned : Provided that such relative was at the date of the death of the 
deceased  living  together  with  him:  Provided  also  that  such  relative  is  and  continues  to  be  without  any 
other adequate means of maintenance. 

If any part of such estate shall have been transferred or bequeathed by the deceased, that person for the 
time being in possession of such part, or of the rent and profits thereof, shall be liable to pay proportionate 
parts of the said annuities the continuance thereof respectively. 

25. **Grandparents, parents, and senior widows.**—  In  the  case  of  the  grandparents,  parents,  and 
senior widows of the deceased, the maximum amount of the annuity shall be as follows :— 

(a.) where the annual revenue payable to Government in respect of the estate is or exceeds 1,50,000 
rupees -- a sum not exceeding 6,000 rupees:

(b.) where such revenue is or exceeds 100,000 rupees, but is less than 1,50,000 rupees -- a sum 
not exceeding 2,400 rupees : 

(c.) where such revenue is or exceeds 50,000 rupees, but is less than 100,000 rupees -- a sum 
not exceeding 1,200 rupees : 

(d.) where such revenue is or exceeds 25,000 rupees, but is less than 50,000 rupees -- a sum not 
exceeding 600 rupees : 

(e.) where such revenue is or exceeds 15,000 rupees, but is less than 25,000 rupees -- a sum not 
exceeding 360 rupees :  

(f.) where such revenue is or exceeds 7,000 rupees, but is less than 15,000 rupees -- a sum not 
exceeding 240 rupees; and 

(g.) where such revenue is less than 7,000 rupees -- a sum not exceeding 180 rupees.

**Junior widows.**—  In  the  case  of  a  junior  widow  of  the  deceased,  the  maximum  amount  of  the 
annuity shall be one-half of the maximum amount to which a senior widow of the deceased would be 
entitled under the former part of this section.

26. **Brothers and minor sons.**—  In  the  case  of  brothers  and  minor  sons  of  the  deceased,  the 
maximum amount of the annuity shall be a sum not more than 1,200 rupees. 

**Nephews.**—  In  the  case  of  nephews  of  the  deceased,  being  father  less  minors,  the  maximum 
amount of the annuity shall be a sum not more than 600 rupees.  

27. **Unmarried daughters, widows of sons and brothers and inferior widows.**— In the case of 
unmarried daughters of the deceased, widows of his sons and brothers, and his widows not of his ahl-
i·bradari, the maximum amount of the annuity shall be a sum not more than 360 rupees. 

28. **Continuance of annuities.**—  Subject  to  the  provisions  hereinbefore  contained,  the  aid 
annuities hall continue, 

(a) in the case of a minor son or a minor nephew,  till he ceases to be a minor; 

(b) in the case of a daughter or widow, till she voluntarily leaves the household of the heir or 
legatee  of  the  deceased,  or  would,  according  to  the  custom  of  the  country,  cease  to  be  entitled  to 
maintenance, and 

(c) in all other cases, till the annuitant dies.
 
###IX. — Miscellaneous. 

29. **Muhammadan Taluqdárs and Grantees empowered to adopt.** —  Every  Muhammadan 
Taluqdár,  Grantee,  heir  or  legatee,  and  every  widow  of  a  Muhammadan  Taluqdár  or  Grantee,  heir  or 
legatee,  with  the  consent  in  writing  of  her  deceased  husband,  shall,  for  the  purposes  of  this  Act,  have 
power to adopt a son whenever, if he or she were a Hind, he or she might adopt a son. 

Such, power shall be exercisable only by writing executed and attested in manner required by section 
nineteen in case of a will and registered. 

30. **Alteration of rules of intestate succession in cases of Taluqdárs and Grantees named in 
list 3 or list 5.** — Any Taluqdár or Grantee whose name has been entered in the third or fifth of the lists 
mentioned  in  section  eight,  or  his  heir  or  legatee,  may,  at  any  time  hereafter,  present  to  the  Chief 
Commissioner of Oudh a declaration in writing, executed and registered in the manner required by this 
Act for the execution and registration of an instrument of gift, that he is desirous that the succession to his 
estate shall, in case of his intestacy, cease to be regulated in the manner described in section twenty-two, 
and that it shall in future be regulated by the ordinary law to which members of his tribe and religion are 
subject.

On  receiving  such  declaration,  the  said  Chief  Commissioner  shall  cause  to  be  inserted  the  name  of 
such Taluqdár or Grantee, heir or legatee, in the fourth or sixth (as the case may be) of the lists mentioned 
in section eight, and shall cause a note thereof to be made in the proper place in the third or fifth (as the 
case may be) of the said lists, and the succession to such estate shall thenceforward, in case of intestacy, 
be regulated in the manner provided by section twenty-three. 

31. **Reverter to ordinary law of succession.** — Any Taluqdár or Grantee, heir or legatee, may, at any 
time  hereafter,  present  to  the  Chief  Commissioner  of  Oudh  a  declaration  in  writing,  executed  and 
registered in the manner required by this Act for the execution and registration of instruments of gift, that 
he is desirous that his estate should in future be held subject to the ordinary law of succession to which 
members of his tribe and religion are subject. 

On receiving such declaration, the Chief Commissioner shall cause a note thereof to be made in the 
proper  places  in  each  of  the  lists  mentioned  in  section  eight  in  which  the  name  of  such  Taluqdár  or 
Grantee,  heir  or  legatee,  has  been  entered,  and  thenceforward  none  of  the  provisions  of  this  Act  shall 
apply  to  such  estate,  which  shall  thenceforward  be  held  subject  in  all  respects  to  the  ordinary  law  of 
succession to which members of his tribe and religion are subject. 

32. **Saving of rights of creditors.** — Nothing hereinbefore contained shall affect any right which the 
creditors  of  any  person  making  a  transfer  or  bequest  under  the  provisions  of  this  Act,  would  have 
possessed as against the property comprised in such transfer or bequest if this Act had not been passed. 

33. **Awards as to compensation and maintenance.** —  And  whereas  bodies  of  Taluqdárs  have  in 
several cases made awards respecting the provision to be made for certain relatives of Taluqdárs, and it is 
expedient to render such awards legally enforceable; it is hereby further enacted that every such award 
shall, if approved by the financial Commissioner of Oudh and filed in his Court within six months after 
the  passing  of  this  Act,  he  enforceable  as  if  a  Court  of  competent  jurisdiction  had  passed  judgment 
according to the award and a decree had followed upon such judgment. 
 
 
 
##SCHEDULES. 

###FIRST SCHEDULE. 

*(See section 3.)*

I. 

From  C.  BEADON,  ESQ.,  Secretary to the  Government  of  India,  Foreign  Department, to
C.J. WINGFIELD, ESQ., Chief Commissioner of Oudh, (No. 6268, dated 10th October 1859.)

**No. 1091, dated the 4th June and No. 1377, dated the 15th July.** — I AM directed by the Governor 
General in Council to acknowledge the receipt of your Secretary's letters noted in the margin, relative to 
the Taluqdárí settlement of Oudh.

2. His Excellency in Council, agreeing with, you as to the expediency of removing all doubts as to the 
intention of the Government to maintain the Taluqdárs in possession of the taluqas for which they have 
been permitted to engage, is pleased to declare that every Taluqdár with whom a summary settlement has 
been  made  since  the  re-occupation  of  the  province,  has  thereby  acquired  a  permanent  hereditary  and 
transferable  proprietary  right, viz.,  in  the  taluqa  for  which  he  has  engaged,  including  the  perpetual 
privilege of engaging with the Government for the revenue of the taluqa.

3. This right is, however, conceded, subject to any measure which the Government may think proper 
to take for the purpose of protecting the inferior Zamíndárs and village occupants from extortion, and of 
upholding their rights in the soil in subordination to the Taluqdárs.

4. The Governor General in Council desires that you will have ready, by His Excellency's arrival at 
Lucknow, a list of the Taluqdárs upon whom a permanent proprietary right has now been conferred; and 
that you will prepare sanads to be issued to these Taluqdárs at that time. The sanads will be given by, and 
will ran in the name of, the Chief Commissioner, acting under the authority of the Governor General.

5. I am directed to add that, as  regards  Zamíndárs  and  others,  not  being  Taluqdárs,  with  whom  a 
summary settlement has been made, the orders conveyed in the limitation Circular No. 31 of the 28th of 
January  1859,  must  not  be  strictly  observed.  Opportunity  must  be  allowed  at  the  next  settlement  to  all 
disappointed claimants to bring forward their claims, and all such claims must be heard and disposed of in 
the usual manner.

___________ 

II. 

From C. BEADON, ESQ., Secretary to the Government of India, Foreign Department, with the Governor 
General, to Chief Commissioner, Oudh, (No. 23, dated 19th October 1859).

I am  directed  by  His  Excellency  the  Governor  General  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  demi-
official letter of the 15th instant, enclosing a form of sanad to be given to the Taluqdárs of Oudh, granting 
them a full and permanent proprietary right in the taluqas for which they have severally been permitted to 
engage at the summary settlement. 

2. This form of sanad is generally approved, and a revised copy, with some few alterations, is herewith 
enclosed for adoption and for careful translation into the Hindustani language, in which the sanads will be 
prepared. 

3. The sanads declare that while, on the one hand, the Government has conferred on the Taluqdárs and 
on their heirs for ever the full proprietary right in their, respective estates, subject only to the payment of 
the annual revenue that may be imposed from time to time, and to certain conditions of loyalty and good 
service, on the other hand, all persons holding an interest in the land under the Taluqdárs will be secured 
in the possession of the subordinate rights which they have heretofore enjoyed.

4. The meaning of this is that, when a regular settlement of the province is made, wherever it is found 
that  Zamíndárs or other persons  have  held  an  interest  in  the  soil  intermediate  between  the  ryot  and  the 
Taluqdár, the amount or proportion payable by the intermediate holder to the Taluqdár; and the net jama 
finally payable by the Taluqdár to the Government, will he fixed and recorded after careful and detailed 
survey and inquiry into each case, and will remain unchanged during the currency of the settlement, the 
Taluqdár being, of course, free to improve his income and the value of his property by the reclamation of 
waste lands (unless in cases where usage has given the liberty of reclamation to the Zamindar), and by 
other measures of which he will receive the full benefit at the end of the settlement. Where leases (pattás) 
are given to the subordinate Zamíndárs, they will be given by the Taluqdár, not by the Government.

5. This being the position in which the Taluqdárs will be placed, they cannot, with any show of reason, 
complain if the Government takes effectual steps to re-establish and maintain in subordination to them the 
former rights, as those existed in 1855, of other persons whose connexion with the soil is in many cases 
more intimate and more ancient than theirs; and it is obvious that the only effectual protection which the 
Government  can  extend  to  these  inferior  holders,  is  to  define  and  record  their  rights  and  to  limit  the 
demand of the Taluqdár as against such person during the currency of the settlement to the amount fixed 
by the Government as the basis of its own revenue demand.

6. What the  duration  of  the  settlement  shall  be,  and  what  proportion  of  the  rent  shall  be  allowed in 
each case to Zamíndárs and Taluqdárs, are questions to be determined at the time of settlement. 

The  Governor  General  agrees  in  your  observation  that  it  is  a  bad  principle  to  create  two  classes  of 
recognized proprietors in one estate, and it is likely to lead to the alienation of a larger proportion of the 
land revenue than if there were only one such class. But whilst the taluqdárí tenure, notwithstanding this 
drawback,  is  about  to  be  recognized  and  re-established,  because  it  is  consonant  with  the  feelings  and 
traditions  of  the  whole  people  of  Oudh,  the  zamíndári  tenure  intermediate  between  the  tenures  of  the 
Taluqdár  and  the  ryot  is  not  a  new  creation,  and  it  is  a  tenure  which,  in  the  opinion  of  the  Governor 
General, must be protected.



###SECOND SCHEDULE 

(*See section* 4.) 

(1).— Dig-Bijay Singh, Rájá of Balrámpúr. 

(2). — Rao Hardeo Bakhsh Singh, of Katíari. 

(3). — Káshí Parshád, Taluqdár of Sisséndi. 

(4). — Jhabba Singh, Zamíndár of Gopál Khéra. 

(5). — Chandan Lál, Zamíndár of Moraon (Baiswára).